I was then sent abroad for a few months and dropped a bottle of kirkland 5% Minoxidil and couldnt order any so I went without it for about 6 weeks. Over the coarse of the 6 weeks I didnt notice any additional hair loss at all and was considering stopping altogether and presumed the initial hair loss was just due to stress and the hair would stay. I convinded my self that if i used a bottle for a month without a shed that I was safe and could quit altogether. I ordered the Spectral Ultra High Purity minoxidil 5% and got a massive shed. 2 months on and I had gained more hair than the entire 15 months on rogaine in the frontal areas (small intermediate hairs with lots more fuzz). At this stage I decided to quit smoking because in fairness its just stupid! I had a massive headache for about a week where I could feel the blood flow slowly rising at the temple, around where the eye is, straight up to the scalp. A week later I started having a much increased daily loss from about 10 hairs to 150 a day for 3 weeks but it has lessened to maybe 70 a day now. The hairs were about 60% intermediate hairs varying in length with the rest terminal hairs. I know that smoking decreases the blood flow to the scalp therefore by quitting there's more nutrients getting to the scalp......but does that not mean there is more DHT reaching the scalp too??? Has anybody else ever had this or heard of this increased hair loss after quitting smoking?

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5% Spectral UHP minoxidil x2 daily- No more!Revita replacing normal shampoo (about 3-4 times a week) Only treatment, probably doesnt grow hair or slow down loss but it doesnt (well maybe) do any further damage that would occur with SLS and it makes the hair look abit thicker

Im a smoker, and I remember searching if smoking makes hairloss a lot worse, and I did come accross quiet a few people that complained their hair got much worse after smoking, but then there were others that said their hair looked a lot healthier / more full, etc after quitting, so yeah.
BUT, quitting smoke, even if it affects hair, is worth it I think.
I will quit soon hopefully.
You did it cold turkey?

Yea sure its the only way to do it.Im a Toxicologist so I know better (after 6 years that is) I quit caffeine the same day also. Its strange but will all the crap you hear about quitting, the only thing that was affecting me was the cravings and there gone now! I feel a hell of a lot less stressed ( which is strange being in my final year of college), circulation is great, easily twice as easy to breath and skin is soft and hydrated if a bit sensitive and a few spots!

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5% Spectral UHP minoxidil x2 daily- No more!Revita replacing normal shampoo (about 3-4 times a week) Only treatment, probably doesnt grow hair or slow down loss but it doesnt (well maybe) do any further damage that would occur with SLS and it makes the hair look abit thicker

In males, the effect of smoking on androgen levels is important, given the recent interest in the association between low androgen levels and the metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease (90). Various studies examining the effects of smoking on serum testosterone levels have reported conflicting findings largely due to difficulties in the hormonal assays. Testosterone has a circadian rhythm with levels peaking between 0600 and 0800 h and reaching a nadir between 1800 and 2000 h. A significant proportion of the circulating total testosterone is inactive as it is tightly bound to SHBG (65 - 80%), whereas the biologically active fraction circulates either free (1 - 3%) in circulation or loosely bound to albumin (20 - 40%). The free plus the albumin-bound testosterone is called the bioavailable testosterone. Thus levels of total testosterone can be affected by changes in the levels of SHBG and other plasma proteins. Significantly increased (41, 91 - 95), decreased (96, 97) and unchanged levels of total testosterone (64, 98, 99) in male smokers have been reported in various studies. Free testosterone levels have also been found to be higher among smokers (41, 91, 92, 94, 95). However, SHBG levels have been measured only in three studies (92, 93, 95) and are reported to be higher amongst smokers. No significant differences in the levels of bioavailable testosterone have been demonstrated between smokers and non-smokers (92, 93). English and colleagues (92) demonstrated that the increase in total testosterone observed in smokers is due to the raised SHBG levels. They also reported that SHBG levels and not testosterone correlated with serum nicotine levels, a measure of cigarette smoking. However, Svartberg et al. (95) found a positive association between testosterone and smoking even after adjusting for SHBG though other plasma proteins were not taken into account. It would seem likely that the effects of smoking on testosterone levels are due to changes in plasma-binding capacity rather than a direct effect of nicotine on androgens.

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Disclaimer - I am not a physician or an expert and my advice should not be considered medical/expert advice. - If you follow my opinions and/or advice you do so at your own risk.

D'OH! I was about to quit too, now I'm scared. But anyways I will, in 3 weeks cause I'm leaving to Cuba next week... Not a good time to quit while you're on vacation. lol

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-Finasteride 1.25mg since 1999-Rogaine Foam once daily (on and off) since January 2010 on temples only. (No results)-Change my shampoo to Revita and use Nizoral 2% only once a week. -Nutricap vitamins( yellow box, hate the one for men) Since June 2012-PSI since october 17 2012 (Not good enough for the price) Stop using it.-Experimental product since June 1 2013.

I've been off nicotine for a whopping ten days now. While I haven't noticed any difference with respect to shedding, my scalp pains are completely gone now. This is consistent with the previous times I've given up smoking. While nicotine is known for affecting your hormone levels, at the same time, my onset of scalp pain was sometimes almost immediate- that is, I'd smoke a cigarette, and within a few minutes, my scalp would begin to hurt. Hormone changes is probably not the culprit here, owing to how quickly the pain began, but rather, an allergic reaction to something in the cigarette.

Incidentally, I also noticed the hair follicles on the back of my upper arms are no longer inflamed, now that I've given up smoking.

UPDATE: The hair loss has more or less gone back to the way it was with just thin hairs falling out (5-10 per shower with 1-3 on the pillow in the morning, my skin has become significantly thicker and softer, all the zits that came have gone and Ive been having a severely itchy and burning sensation all over my head for the past week or so when I apply the minoxidil! Im hopeing its hairgrowth but mosly it just seems like the skin is coming off, probably from increased cell turnover since the bottom skin is longer being poisoned! The most profound gain from quitting is the thickness of my veins around my arms, they have easily doubled in diameter! The one bad thing is my chest, I wake up some mornings barely able to breath and cough up some nasty black/brown/yellow crap and sometimes my lung capacity seems at least twice what it was!!! Well thats the progress so far, I know theres a hell of alot more distance go to so Im gonna clear out my lungs with a detox in the hope to hurry this up! And just for those of you who want to quit, all the tar stuck in the lungs still contains all the carcinogens so you must extract that before your risk of cancer decreases, quitting just means your not adding to it!!! So make sure you do a lung detox!!!! Since you would take and do alot of stuff for hair, I think you should do the same for your lungs granting that your lungs are alot more important than hair!

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5% Spectral UHP minoxidil x2 daily- No more!Revita replacing normal shampoo (about 3-4 times a week) Only treatment, probably doesnt grow hair or slow down loss but it doesnt (well maybe) do any further damage that would occur with SLS and it makes the hair look abit thicker

I know theres a hell of alot more distance go to so Im gonna clear out my lungs with a detox in the hope to hurry this up! And just for those of you who want to quit, all the tar stuck in the lungs still contains all the carcinogens so you must extract that before your risk of cancer decreases, quitting just means your not adding to it!!! So make sure you do a lung detox!!!! Since you would take and do alot of stuff for hair, I think you should do the same for your lungs granting that your lungs are alot more important than hair!

Are you sure a lung detox can work? It seems instinctively impossible to me. I did some quick searching and found sites claiming to offer info on how to detox, and other sites saying it was impossible.

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I represent Dr Rahal and can be contacted for consultations and advice.

Well a full body detox will help clear the lungs but im doing it with as many specifics towards the lungs as I can; like going for sprints (it loosens ALOT) by eating lots of fresh fruits and veg, Ive given up coffee and all soft drinks. Ive even decided to give up beer which is probably the worse part of it haha. Interestingly I found nemerous studies into saw palmetto acting as a "natural" expectorant and is used in the treatment of Asthma as it supposedly has anti-inflammatory properties but I havent found any studies on sciencedirect or pubmed so ???????. Anyhow Ill probably go on it and see what happens regards chest and hair and all that!

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5% Spectral UHP minoxidil x2 daily- No more!Revita replacing normal shampoo (about 3-4 times a week) Only treatment, probably doesnt grow hair or slow down loss but it doesnt (well maybe) do any further damage that would occur with SLS and it makes the hair look abit thicker

Hey Squall this question isn't about hair loss but i was wondering if i could pick your brains about something. Since i was 16 i have smoked weed on and off. I have never been a heavy smoker of ciggarettes but i did smoke the occasional one every now and then. I am now 22 and i am glad i stumbled upon this thread when i did because i have decided once and for all, i well never smoke another thing in my life, and will use a vapouriser if i ever want to get high again.

I just want to know, is 6 years of occasional weed smoking going to cause much long term damage? I should say i have been very active the entire time, often working out high and playing basketball. From my athletic performance my guess would be i havn't done anything too serious but i would just like to know if there is a greater risk of long term damage smoking marijuana considering it has more amounts of tar than ciggarettes.